Windows icacls Command

The icacls command in Windows is used to display, modify, backup, or restore access control lists (ACLs) for files and directories. ACLs define the permissions that users or groups have on files or directories. Here’s a basic rundown of how to use icacls.

Permissions

• F: Full control
• M: Modify
• RX: Read and execute
• R: Read-only
• W: Write-only

Examples

Display Permissions

To display the permissions on a file or folder:

/> icacls <filename>

Example:

/> icacls C:\Users\JohnDoe\Documents

Grant Permissions

To grant permissions to a user or group:

/> icacls <filename> /grant <user>:<permissions>

Example:

/> icacls C:\MyFolder /grant John:(F)

Here, (F) means Full control for the user John.

Remove Permissions

To remove specific permissions for a user or group:

/> icacls <filename> /remove <user>

Example:

/> icacls C:\MyFolder /remove John

Set Permissions

You can replace the permissions on a file or directory with new ones:

/> icacls <filename> /reset

Backup Permissions

To create a backup of the permissions on files and folders:

/> icacls <folder> /save <filename> [/T]

The /T option will save permissions for all subfolders and files recursively.

Example:

/> icacls C:\MyFolder /save aclfile.txt /T

Restore Permissions

To restore the permissions from a backup file:

/> icacls <folder> /restore <filename>

Example:

/> icacls C:\MyFolder /restore aclfile.txt

Inheritance

To disable inheritance for a file or folder:

/> icacls <filename> /inheritance:r

And to enable inheritance:

/> icacls <filename> /inheritance:e

Remove All Permissions

To remove all permissions from a file or folder:

/> icacls <filename> /reset